A/N: Okies… so not as many reviews as I'd hoped for, but I've got some loyal fans, so I shall continue just for you!

Special thanks to my all-powerful beta, GeekGrrl. My stories would be horrendous without you.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned this… I really really do… But there's this Big Guy up in the sky called Joss… and he won't let me have it… (sobcry)

Chapter Three – Temper Tantrums

"Topper?" Dawn called as the little kitten flew out of Buffy's room as if he had all the hounds of hell on his tail. Quickly dropping to her knees, she scooped him up and kissed his furry head. "What's wrong, kitty?"

Topper let out a nervous purr. Dawn just smiled and stood up, placing the feline on Andrew's couch/makeshift bed. The boy in question was currently in the bathroom trying to 'freshen up' for a job interview, which he had been searching for since he had been fired from the Council. But that was a whole different story.

She turned to the radio and cranked up the volume as one of her favorite songs came on. She nodded her head a few times to the beginning solo before dancing into the kitchen, newly blonde hair flying. Just because she gave up on nail experiments didn't mean she had to do the same for cooking.

Buffy woke, for the second time, to the smell of smoke and a beeping alarm, followed by a muffled 'shit!' from Dawn. She yawned, still sleepy, before looking at the clock and rubbing her eyes to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. Groaning, she rolled out of bed. She would try and be up before two tomorrow.

Staggering to her doorway, which was still open, she blinked a few times, not at all expecting the scene in front of her.

Blue eyes blazing with fury, Dawn had Andrew cornered in the kitchen. Topper hissed menacingly beside her, but Andrew's responding hiss sent him scooting back a few steps behind his angry shield. Glancing up at Dawn, the boy cringed as he realized that was probably not too good of an idea.

"You told him what?!" the teenager demanded, hands on her hips.

The only response she got was a very frightened Andrew, who immediately brightened when he saw Buffy peeking through her doorway.

"Hi, Buffy!" he called cheerfully. "How are you this afternoon? Would you mind taking your maniacal sister away from me before she hurts me? 'Cause that would make a big mess. And I know, I spill a lot of blood when I bleed. Like this one time in kindergarten when Joey Pat-"

"Andrew," Dawn hissed warningly, her voice dripping with venom.

His eyes wide, the geek sprinted from the corner to dart behind the bedroom door and hide behind the Slayer, who was watching with amusement. "Buffy!" he squeaked. "Buffy will protect me!"

"Not a chance," she told him, opening the door fully and stepping out of her room. Andrew followed her like a shadow. Then she turned to Dawn. "Why were you yelling at our mentally-challenged couch-dweller?"

Andrew opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it and just stood quietly, desperately denying the inevitable.

Dawn just sneered. "Here, Andy, tell Buffy what you told me."

Buffy, now thoroughly confused by her little sister's temper, turned to Andrew, who was grinning sheepishly.

"You told him what?!" Buffy roared at a cowering Andrew, who was back in his corner.

"I told him that you and the Immortal were cuddle buddies," he repeated sullenly.

"Why?!"

"Okay, this is the part where I get to defend myself and my methods, without any interruptions," Andrew declared, looking at first from one sister to another. All he got were twin glares and arms being crossed in unison.

"Okay." And with a shuddering breath, he began, his words pouring out in his rush to explain himself.

"Well, remember when you caught Angel's spy and you were all punch, wham, kick, send the guy through the wall and to hospital? And you asked what he was doing and he said spying for Angel and you asked why and he said Angel wanted to keep an eye on you. And then you were pacing the house for days, throwing stuff like my extremely expensive collectable Star Wars figurines around and yelling about how he wouldn't leave you alone and how he should move on. Well, when he and Sp-, he stopped by I thought you wouldn't want to see him so I gave him a reason why besides the actual reason why because I wanted to break it to him gently."

Buffy blinked at the extreme lack of breath Andrew took during his whole speech before going back to the heart of the matter. "But you told him I was dating Dawn's boyfriend!"

"I was against the clock!" he protested. "He was staring at me with those big blue eyes, pleading with me to give him a chance to talk to you."

"Then why didn't you -" Buffy tilted her head, realizing something. "Angel has brown eyes."

Andrew mentally cursed himself for his slip up. "That's what I said. Big brown eyes."

"You said blue," Dawn told him, still glaring. She wasn't going to let this go easily.

"Did I? Oops, mouth trips me up sometimes," he said with a nervous chuckle, hoping they didn't notice. "Can I go now? I'm gonna miss my interview."

With a roll of her eyes, Buffy waved at the door, signaling he was dismissed. Andrew gave a Japanese bow and hurried out, grabbing his resume on the way.

"Can we kick him out?" Dawn pleaded.

"If you want to. This is your house for a few days."

Dawn raised her eyebrow, clearly both skeptical and puzzled.

"I'm going to L.A. to see Angel. If there was something so important he couldn't talk to me over the phone… I'm just going, okay?" Buffy sounded tired.

"Settling some issues?" Dawn asked knowingly.

"Oh, yeah." There was a sigh added to the end of that sentence.

Dawn smirked. "Kick his ass on the whole 'spy' thing. And tell him that the Immortal is my sweetie pie and he is not allowed anywhere near him." She began to edge towards the door. "Speaking of, I gotta go see him for lunch. I'll be home soon."

"Okay," Buffy said. "Have fun while I'm gone. And no sex."

Dawn smiled sweetly and slipped out the door. Buffy chuckled when she heard the 'dammit!' from outside their apartment, and then went to pack her clothes and buy a plane ticket. This was one conversation she wasn't looking forward to.

A/N: And to the reviewers that reviewed the last chapter, I give chocolate chip cookies!

And they are satelliteblues21, all10xs, EMBER91, and willow-wiccan! (snugs) I love reviewers!

And even if you don't love the song, it works extremely well in the situation. :)